


Dépaysement

by Noise (noisepollution)



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i swear these two W I L L be the end of me idk how im not dead already, platonic but can be seen as romantic too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 06:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6458683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noisepollution/pseuds/Noise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"'Why did you take him from me?'</p><p>It was a mumble that Eichi heard perfectly well, but he couldn't help but ask him innocently what he said. The leader of fine wanted to play with him, even for just a while."</p><p>A fic exploring the vague relationship between Rei and Eichi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dépaysement

**Author's Note:**

> First off all, a HUGE thank you to everyone on twitter who helped me with this when it was in this drafting stage, and a thank you to yukisadah who was basically my main editor for this fic (their writing is so good please check them out!!) I'm very excited to upload this because I tried exploring the canon relationship between eichi and rei (and it still came out more romantic than I originally intended) and its a little longer and different to my usual "yay eichi and rei are dating after resolving the drama whoo". I wanted to make this as good as I could so I basically spammed my twitter asking (read: begging) for feedback. Sorry guys ;;;
> 
> But, without further ado, onto the fic!! I hope you enjoy it!

The most beautiful roses have the sharpest thorns.

And Eichi's thorns were absolutely deadly: one would be attracted by his beauty, his handsome face, they'd mistake him for an angel and then he'd kill them to use their lifeless bodies as puppets to do his bidding.

Or at least that's what it looked like from the outside.

Either way, Eichi Tenshouin was definitely a rose with thorns, and sharp ones at that. Rei didn't care if there was something "hidden deep down", he was sure that beneath the layer of deadly thorns there was another layer of thorns, and another, and another, and another.

However, he had only, truly, started believing this when he confronted Eichi about Wataru.

"Tenshouin."

Eichi didn't bother raising his head from the desk.

"Ah, Sakuma Rei. Please, make yourself comfortable."

There was a mere snort for a response, but Eichi knew exactly what he meant. How could he "make himself comfortable" when he was pretty close to strangling the boy in front of him.

Eichi sighed and put his papers down. The blond boy gave in and looked up, knowing that he couldn't just whisk this one away as he did with the thousands of others.

Wataru was important to Rei. The whole academy knew. Their relationship was so popular among students that people would even place bets on whether they were dating or not. At first Eichi found it ridiculous, child's play, but he soon noticed the admiration, no, the obsession Rei had with Wataru.

In fact, when Wataru announced to him that he was leaving the Oddballs, that he would stop being a spy and join _ fine _ for real, Eichi couldn't help but joke about how he'd need a bouncer just in case Rei would try and kill him for it.

Yet there he now was; with neither bouncer nor shield to protect himself. Open and vulnerable to any attack.

But he didn't need protection: Rei had no guts.

"Why did you take him from me?"

It was a mumble that Eichi heard perfectly well, but he couldn't help but ask him innocently what he said. The leader of  _ fine _ wanted to play with him, even for just a while.

Rei responded, just like Eichi wanted him to.

"What did you do to Wataru?"

This time it was louder, angrier, but still was not enough for Eichi.

So he responded, almost like a child playing around.

"Me? Wataru joined of his own will."

"You lie."

_ Pathetic, using such refined language. Is he trying to mimic Wataru? How disgusting _ , Eichi thought. And yet, he smiled.

The fun had started to begin.

"I do not lie. I say only the truth."

"You lie!" This time it was louder, causing a shiver to run down Eichi's spine. 

_ The melody of a starved predator _ , he thought.  _ How vile, yet thrilling _ .

"Do you not hear me?" This time Eichi added a slight tone of dominance in his voice, causing the beast in front of him to cower a little, even only slightly. Proceeding to his next sentence he made sure to put emphasis on every single word.

"I do not lie."

Jackpot. Rei had completely lost his wits and threw Eichi down, placing his stone cold hands around the other's thin, weak neck. At any moment, he could strangle the demon, even snap his damned neck.

But he didn't, because he didn't have the guts to.

A fact that Eichi easily noticed.

"What's holding you back? Go on. Kill me, throw me out of the window and make it look like a suicide. Pin the blame on someone else. Your dear Wataru won't know it was you. He'll come crying to you, wondering why this happened. You'll be able to take him into your arms and whisper pathetic words of comfort as he naively let's himself be held tightly by a murderer. He'll never know."

And just as he expected, Rei did nothing. His body moving with every heated breath he took, but apart from that, he was still.

After a while, Eichi realised that Rei was probably losing grip with reality and he boldly lifted his hand.

No response.

He then placed it near Rei's hair.

No response.

Finally, he used the back of his hand to brush the other's hair away and stared into the other’s twin cesspools of blood red eyes.

He didn't notice anything at first, but after staring for a while, Eichi felt a drop fall and disperse onto his skin. Moving his eyes, he then saw the tears trailing down Rei's face.

And for the first time, he realised that this was not something he could ever foresee.

Now he was the one who lacked a response, he didn't even move like the other boy, his breaths petite and calm compared to the other's heavy breathings. Like a statue, he was still.

A long silence proceeded and Eichi was wondering when Rei would get off him and stomp off, but he didn't.

_ The tears are slightly annoying _ , Eichi told himself, not wanting to believe for a single second that he actually had felt pity for this pathetic creature. He lifted his hand once more to brush away Rei's tears.

But Rei seemed to have snapped out of whatever day dream he was having and grabbed the delicate hand to throw it on the floor, as if trying to shatter it. Giving one last glare to Eichi before whispering, "I'll take my leave now," and walking off, wiping his tears and trying to hide all evidence of crying.

Eichi stayed on the floor, letting the events play in his head like a broken disk. The anger, the provocation, and the unexpected sorrow.

-

He had lost.

His knees were on the floor, his head hung low and his body seemingly lifeless.

He had lost.

Rei's initial reaction was that of delight. The kind of delight that pushed him to whisper in the most patronising way, "You deserved it," with a grin. The most sadistic of types. The same kind of delight on the other's face when he was delivering the news of Wataru's betrayal.

But that feeling didn't last long, as Rei was almost immediately hit with the strangest of feelings after: guilt, pity, sorrow, and, of course, confusion to top it all off.

Was it for Wataru? Although he did feel betrayed by the other, he still held him dear even if he couldn't forgive him.

But it wasn't just him.

Eichi looked like he'd collapse at any moment, so fragile, even when he stood up and smiled his signature, plastic smile. Movements without meaning, his limbs lifeless; he was like a doll, controlled by the fact that he needed to keep face by acting happy, as much as possible.

Rei couldn't stand the sight of it, he turned around and walked off, feeling his strange emotions lie heavily on his shoulders.

-

The moon was unusually bright tonight; it was almost as bright as the sun, and Rei could feel his skin seethe ever so slightly when it was exposed to the light.

But it wasn't too bad, at least he could see where he was going. Although he didn't necessarily need it because he knew the school like the back of his hand.

So, overall, the moon was unhelpful.

Suddenly, there was a noise. Staying still, Rei tried to figure out what exactly the noise was, but it was vague and far away, so he couldn't really do anything but walk closer.

Slowly it turned into a sniffle, then a noise, then it became a cry, a desperate cry, as if one wanted to call out for help but knew no one would listen. Shifting from desperation to frustration, the voice became familiar, but he couldn't make out who it was...

Then, Rei realised he was standing in front of the student council room.

The answer was obvious.

His first option was to walk off, and he almost did. He turned on his heel and took a step.

But the sobbing was hard to ignore, as much as Rei believed that the source of it probably did not want his comfort, or to even see his face. He found that his curiosity, and pity, had taken over him. Knowing he would feel an unbelievable amount of guilt abandoning he who cried with so much melancholy, the boy turned his body back to face the door and lifted his hand to gently touch the doorknob. What was the worst that could happen anyway? The other boy would probably tell him to go away, and Rei would likely do so.

So he wrapped his hand around the door knob, took a deep breath, turned it, and opened the door slowly.

There he saw, just as expected: Eichi Tenshouin.

The evil tyrant who struck fear in the hearts of many; a ruthless demon, who would not hesitate to ruin the life of others if it meant that he'd be rewarded.

Or maybe that wasn't him.

Because right now, he seemed more like a little boy who fell down and scraped his knee for the first time, shocked and upset by the pain; shocked and upset by his  _ discovery _ of pain.

Eichi Tenshouin was nothing more than a vulnerable, harmed child.

Rei knew that he had noticed his enemy coming, he looked up with pain stricken eyes only to look back down again, as if he felt ashamed that Rei had seen this side of him, his true side, hidden by all the thorns which at this point were not there to protect him.

The sobs became less vocal and they started to shake, even his body was shaking, quite violently from what Rei could see of it in the dark from the other side of the room. The sobs then became staggered, inconsistent, indicating that Eichi was trying to talk but was unsure of what to say, or maybe he was just afraid to.

Because he was afraid of Rei.

Knowing that no progress was being made and he was probably worsening the situation by just his presence standing there.

Believing to be out options, Rei apologised for the sudden intrusion, and turned to leave.  _ It's the most you can do _ , he told himself.

"Wait."

A weak yet clear voice echoed through the air.

Rei stopped and turned his head to face Eichi, who was staring back at him, his face filled with desperation, like the first cry Rei heard.

"Please. Stay."

Turning his head back towards the door, Rei looked for an answer in his sea of thoughts. Should he stay? Was Eichi really that upset? 

His thoughts then all came to a halt as he heard another cry.

"Please! Stay with me!"

Eichi, the tyrant, no, the child, was begging his, possibly worst enemy, to stay.

But he didn't have to be his enemy, not at this point in time, not on this night.

On this night, it was just Eichi and Rei. Nothing else.

He turned his body around swiftly and walked towards Eichi, who was following him with surprised, yet curious, eyes; Rei could see how beautiful and clear they were, like the sky or a calm shallow sea. Not really knowing what to do, and not wanting to just stand there, Rei lifted his hand and showed Eichi his palm, hoping that the other boy would understand what he was implying; or maybe it was more, hoping he would accept.

To his relief (and...delight?), Eichi took the hand into his and smiled as he stared at the two slowly intertwining together. A strange and unexpected happiness was rising in Rei's heart and Eichi slowly stood up, his eyes still locked onto the two hands, and then moved them towards his chest. Slowly, he moved the cold, foreign hand so it was touching his uniform, his heart, and wrapped his own warm hands around it. Finally, his eyes closed.

Rei could feel the frail heart beat against the soft chest, despite all the muscle, skin, and fabric protecting it. Unconsciously, he smiled. It was a soft and rare smile, one he'd usually reserve for his brother or Wataru. But this time, he smiled for Eichi.

They stayed like that for only mere minutes, but it felt like hours, and Rei really wished he could stay like this forever, Eichi likely did too. Neither of them could describe it, but the other's presence at this point in time brought a strange comfort to both of them.

Suddenly, Rei was brought back down from whatever euphoric plane of reality he didn't realise he was in by Eichi's abrupt movement. It took him a while to realise that the blond was pressed against his own chest and his arms wrapped around his body. Hesitating, he wrapped his own arms around the other's body, still getting used to who he was with. 

After a while, Eichi whispered "Thank you, Rei," simple words filled with overflowing gratitude. He then, hesitantly, moved his head, and, seeing Rei's lack of resistance, buried his face into the other's shoulders. Rei knew what this meant, but didn't mind; Eichi could drench his whole body in tears for all he cared, as long as it would make the other feel better.

Feeling the other boy shaking, he moved his palm up and down the teen's back in an attempt to reassure the other. "I'm here for you," his actions spoke, and Eichi tightened his grip in a response of gratitude.

Rei would stay there as long as Eichi needed him to; the strange comfort of ignoring past wrongdoings and their, what they first believed to be, malicious relationship to be there for him in one of his lowest points in life, filled them both with joy, yet with some melancholy.

Time is cruel and the next day, they'd revert back to the dark relationship they had.

But this memory, no matter how much of an exception it was, would forever be nailed into their memories as an important event for the both of them.


End file.
